Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls. I own Sadie and Coraline.

A/N: You guys are always so nice, and this is how I repay you? By posting a chapter that’s a month late? I am horrible. I don’t know how you guys deal with it. My apologies are not enough. Everyone gets a cookie for being troopers!

Special Thanks to: kylielink, Jeremy Shane, Maiqu, Curley-Q, Sailor-lit, Midnight-Gypsey101 for updating.

….Chapter 12…..

When Rory found the courage to go back into the living room, she saw something unusual. Jess was standing in front of the TV, while Matt and Chris were pleading with him.

“Come on!”

“No! You promised never to show this to anyone!”

“Yeah, but that’s when we thought the embarrassment was over. Now that we’ve met these people you call family, we have to show it to them.” Chris pointed the remote at the television, and clapping erupted from the speakers. Matt tried to pull Jess away, but he wouldn’t budge. “Move!”

“I will not stand for this kind of malarkey in my house.” Matt stopped pulling, Chris paused the video, and both were gaping at him.

“No! He’s been taken over by robo-Jess. Please don’t hurt us. We’ll be good kids.”

“Yeah. Don’t hurt Rory, either. Coraline is too young to die.” They were both on their knees now, with their hands clasped together as though they were praying. Jess, however, was not very amused.

“That’s it. No more Buffy for you two.” He declared, pointing at them.

Back on the couch, Lorelai, Luke, Coraline, and Rory sat quite fascinated. None of them had ever seen him that happy or comfortable. He’s not walking on broken glass, or waiting for the next shoe to drop. He has a life that he apparently loves. It was new to everyone.

Rory looked over, and saw that Matt slyly clutch the remote, and press play. There was something that no one ever expected to hear. It was Jess. Singing. An Elvis Song. Matt and Chris dog piled Jess, making him topple over.

Then, they all saw Jess standing on a stage, red faced, but he was lacking the bedazzled jumpsuit. For just a few seconds, Jess’s guests heard him sing the first few lines of “Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog” before Jess turned off the television.

Rory sat there in awe, as Coraline giggled to herself. Lorelai was covering her mouth, and didn’t say a word. Luke, well, he busted out laughing, not trying to hide his amusement. Jess’s face went as red as a tomato, and ran out of the apartment as fast as he could. He stood against the door, waiting for the heat in his cheeks to cool down. He saw the door across from him- Sadie’s apartment- and wondered why she wasn’t there. He walked up to the door, and knocked. A loud thud and noisy bang came from the other side.

Sadie opened the door, looking as if she just woke up. Her eyes were dropping, and her hair was mussed up. She was holding a Barbie doll with no head in her right hand, and a broken etch-a-sketch in her left. When she saw Jess, her frown faded, and she raised her eyebrows. “What are you doing here?” She leaned on the doorway, while Jess’s hands found themselves deep in his pockets.

“I’m having a party. For my-”

“Birthday. I didn’t know you were having a party. I thought today was head stone day, and tomorrow is presents day. You haven’t had a party since- well, you know.” Jess looked down at his shoes for a few seconds, then looked back at her again.

“It really wasn’t my idea. I’ll see Lindsey later. Once Chris and Matt start singing their rendition of A Whole New World, I’ll slip out. Sadie understood, and didn’t say anything. “Anyway, I noticed you weren’t there, so I wanted to come by and ask if you wanted to come.” Sadie frowned a little bit, and shook her head.

“Jess, I-”

“There’s cake. Bring Tess. Come on. I’m pretty sure Matt and Chris brought Pin the Scar on Harry Potter. Please?” He gave her what was his best puppy-dog-eyes. She sighed, then smiled. “Tess!”

The young girl bounced up behind her, a wide grin on her face. Tess was holding a box that was wrapped in Blue’s Clues wrapping paper. “Let’s go.” The three of them walked back to the apartment where everyone else was playing Monoperation.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to play that without me.” Rory looked up, hoping that Jess wasn’t still mad at her. The tone in his voice suggested her was, but when he looked at her, he immediately averted his eyes. She sighed. Then, she saw Sadie. Anger boiled up inside her. Jealousy crawled through her skin like a worm.

“Actually, I made up this game, so really, you can’t play without me.” Sadie pointed to herself. Matt and Chris saw her, and jumped up. They both embraced her tight. “It’s nice to see you too.” They hugged her tighter.

Matt and Chris visited a few times to see Coraline as a baby, but weren’t in New York that often. However, whenever they were there, they would make it a point to hit on her when they got the chance.

However, they soon learned that you don’t flirt with a married woman. Dan, Sadie’s husband, was not too happy about the guys making dirty comments towards her. They learned their lesson.

When they lived with Jess (after Lindsey died), they often talked to Sadie. They loved her like a sister- a really hot sister.

Sadie slightly pushed them off of her, but was smiling. Lorelai and Luke were confused as to who she was, but understood after he introduced them.

“Oh, Luke, Lorelai, this is Sadie. Sadie, this is Lorelai and Luke.”

“The uncle who owns the diner. Yeah, I remember you talking about him. He’s married to Rory’s mom.”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Lorelai awkwardly raised her hand, and looked at Sadie. “So, how do you know Jess?”

“I live across the hall. Coraline and Tess are friends, too.” She nodded her head to the two girls giggling with each other. Lorelai nodded. She saw he daughter’s face when Sadie came in. She saw the dislike all over her face. (A look that did not come often) She knew Rory still had feeling for Jess (why else would she run to him, of all people?) And, she saw the way Sadie was looking at Jess. It was clear to everyone (Except Jess, that is) that she loved him. So, by extent, Lorelai didn’t like Sadie anymore than Rory did.

“Daddy?” Coraline asked from the couch.

“Yes, sweetie?” Luke and Lorelai both made a face at Jess’s use of a pet name.

“Can we open presents now?” Matt and Chris were violently nodding their heads in agreement.

“Of course we can.” Everyone who was standing sat down, while Rory gathered all the presents. She picked up a present, and handed it to Jess.

“That’s from us.” Lorelai said, pointing to herself and Luke. Jess opened the gift that was neatly wrapped in blue glitter wrapping paper. He inwardly rolled his eyes. When he opened it, he saw a very torn, old, brown book. His eyes lit up, and the corner of his lips turned up.

“I wasn’t sure what to get. It was such short notice, but apparently Luke already had the perfect gift. I picked out the paper, though.” Jess looked up at Luke, and without words, thanked him. Luke thought the smile was thanks enough.

“It’s great, sparkly.” Jess thought it best not to ignore Lorelai. He’d always been rude to her, and he only stayed for the wedding ceremony. (In his defense, he had a baby and a wife in New York, and he didn’t want to have to see Rory with Logan) He looked at the book again. It was a first edition The House of Seven Gables. He remembered talking to Luke (although, it was more like him uncharacteristically rambling about how much he wished he had a copy of it) and apparently, Luke remembered too.

“Wow, a really old book. Best present ever.” Matt sarcastically deadpanned. “Open mine. It’s much better than Chris’s, trust me.” Matt threw his present (which was horribly wrapped in pirate wrapping paper) at Jess. When Jess opened it, all he could do was stare.

“Huh.” Sadie tried to stifle a laugh. Of course, Matt would give him that. Matt smiled largely, and Chris was falling over with laughter. Luke, Lorelai, and Rory couldn’t see what it was. Jess, however, was not at amused as everyone else. “Really?”

“You said you wanted to-and this is an exact quote- ‘know why all those girls were screaming with giddiness over a pansy-ass, sparkling, vampire.’”

“If I said I wanted to shoot myself, would you give me a gun?”

“You’re comparing suicide to reading about a whiny girl who falls deeply in love with a gay vampire?”

“Yes, Matt, I believe I am.”

“Alright, that’s fair.” Jess tossed the book aside. Chris gave Jess his gift, and smiled knowingly. Jess opened the box, fear spread across his face. He knew Chris’s smile way too well.

“AH!” Jess threw the box to the ground, and frowned. Chris was again toppled over with laughter. You could hear Matt mumble a small “Told ya.”

Lorelai picked the box up from the floor. She looked inside, wrinkled her eyebrows, but still giggled. She pulled out the item. It was a bright red hat with white at the base and very tip. It looked mysteriously like a Santa Claus hat. “What?”

“It’s the ghost of Christmas past. Keep it away from me.” Jess yelled, but Lorelai threw it to Rory.

“Jess got into a fight with a rent-a-Santa at the mall a couple years ago. And since it scared so many children and angered so many parents, he had to donate, what, fifteen-hundred dollars to the mall. Not to mention he hurt the Santa so bad, Jess had to step in for an hour. Plus, Santa kind of kicked his butt. Needless to say, he now has a problem with anything Santa Claus related.”

“Alright, now Sadie’s gift.” Sadie handed her present to Jess, looking a little ashamed. “Sorry about the paper,” she was referring to the Blue’s Clues wrapping paper, “It’s not like having a seven year old allows you to have adult wrapping paper.”

“Don’t worry. It’s perfect.” Jess assured her, and she smiled. Rory’s blood boiled with jealousy. Jess was commenting about how great Sadie was. To Rory, it seemed as though Jess didn’t think Sadie did anything wrong.

Jess opened the present, and smirked at the contents. He pulled out the item. “The Elephant Man, thanks.”

“The freak show movie?” Lorelai asked. She saw it once, and didn’t think Jess would really like it. It wasn’t the typical slasher, action movie. The only movie she remembers Jess ever watching was Almost Famous.

“It’s so much more than that. It’s about standing out, having a disability and triumphing. This movie is the inspiration for many people, for me. It’d not just a freak show movie.”

“He made me watch it a dozen times, but he doesn’t own a copy and it costs so much money to rent a movie every three days.” Sadie smiled at Jess, and he nodded back to her.

“Thank you.”

“Whatever. You just better not get me another Beanie Baby for my birthday.”

“I thought you loved Beanie Babies.”

“when I was twelve. I just didn’t say anything because I know how much you love finding them for me. But you’ve given me six “Swingers” and no “Cheddars.” If you can find one, get it, but think of something more original this year.” Jess looked a little disappointed.

“Well, maybe I was just trying to do something nice. Geez, maybe I won’t get you anything this year.” Sometimes, the old Jess comes back into him, Rory noticed, especially when he was offended.

“I’m sorry. Keep giving me Beanie Babies. I love them.” Sadie didn’t want Jess to be upset, so she went with him. It was easier than feeling guilt over hurting his feelings.

This caused Rory to zone out. She had thought that she knew Jess pretty well, since she’s know him so long, but it turns out she doesn’t. He had a whole other life without her, and was pretty happy with it. There are anecdotes she has about him, but these people, his friends, know more. Much, much more. She wished she knew the new Jess just as well as she knew the old one. Before, she didn’t know what he was going to do, but at least she knew that he was unpredictable. Now, he seems like a predictable twenty-eight year old singe father. Nothing odd about him. Matt, Chris, Sadie, they knew what he was planning and thinking, and enjoyed having that luxury. (although they didn’t know it was a luxury)

And now that she knows what happened to his wife, she’s finding his new self less intoxicating than his old self. In reality, she wanted the old Jess back. He didn’t love anyone else besides her, he only talked to her, and only smiled with her. She wanted the Jess that was lonely and brooding and angry at the world, even if that Jess never called her or did what he said he would. She wanted him to confide in her. And, yeah, she knows she’s very selfish for thinking that. But, really, she didn’t care.

………

A/N: So, it’s much longer than the last one. And there’s still another part. In this one, nothing really happened, I know. It was just more of a look into what Jess’s life was like. However, the next chapter, some important stuff will happen. That important stuff will lead to the end of this story, which is only a few chapters away. Sad, I know. But, I feel like this story is just hanging there, and looking for an end.

After I finish this story, I am going to continue ‘Remember This Moment’. But, do not fear. I shall shower you all with one-shots! Then when I am done with ‘Remember This Moment,’ I will start my next story. (but I won’t tell which one it is)